1. Technical Field
The disclosure generally relates to seals used in gas turbine engines.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various gas turbine engine components are subjected to heating and cooling cycles that cause the components to expand and contract. Expansion and contraction causes challenges in forming seals between components to prevent gas leakage.
Turbine vane assemblies are examples of components that typically experience expansion and contraction during use. In order to prevent gas leakage between adjacent vanes of a vane assembly, feather seals have been used. A feather seal, which is typically configured as a strip of metal, is positioned between opposing slots of adjacent vanes. Notably, when the vanes are cold, the feather seal typically floats loosely within the opposing slots. However, after the vanes expand due to heating, the feather seal tends to fit more tightly within the opposing slots.
Designing a feather seal can be quite challenging. In particular, the width of a feather seal may be established so that the seal will not fall out of the slots when the vanes cool and contract. However, the width should be narrow enough so that the vanes do not crush the feather seal when the vanes heat and expand.